I don’t often credit my neighbours to the south with much. Regular readers will know I’m a dual national – Canadian and British, and currently reside in the frozen tundra around Calgary, Alberta.
One thing ‘Muricans are good at though, is (allegedly) extolling the core tenets of western democracy.
One of my favourites is that the Constitution says that law making is reserved to Congress, as they are closest to the People. Granted, this is more to do with keeping the statute books out of the hands of arbitrary decision making by unelected nobles than, say, the Swiss model of direct democracy, but for the 1700s, it was a very radical concept.
The People, be they those envisaged by the Founding Fathers, the citizens of the UK, France, Australia – any Parliamentary style of government – elect someone to represent them. That person, be it an MP, Congresswoman, etc, is their voice. There to promote their priorities, and stand up for their rights, fight for what they need, and ultimately, mould society in their image.
If you were an alien having a gander at the tiny blue dot in the universe called Earth, you might think that you could do your school report on human society quickly by reviewing the output of major governments. After all, they are there to represent the people, promote their priorities, and the time saved meant you could kick off your space boots and sip Mai Tais in Waikiki.
Imagine then, if they stumbled across the Office of Communications.
The biggest priority of the day, apparently, is to divert public resources away from defending the poor and vulnerable, to deny improvements to emergency call handling, stopping our grandparents being defrauded, and….
Can you guess?
Honestly, if it was April 1st, I’d assume this was a joke.
… yep, Ofcom joined a coalition to take action in case a Premier League footballer has their feelings hurt on social media.
We’ve blogged before about a teenager seeing boobies on the internet being a worse offense in the eyes of the regulator (which, let’s be clear – they are a child of the will of Parliament – Ofcom are only doing what the Government has told them to do) than hundreds of ambulances potentially going to the wrong address.
The sanctity of life appears to be a lesser priority to this regime than Wayne Rooney being called an overpaid useless **** when he boots a penalty into the stands instead of the back of the net.
I can say that without fear, as I am protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Our US COO often makes very blunt remarks on the news he sees coming out of Blighty, knowing he is protected by the First Amendment.
The protections enjoyed over here also allow me to question whether Keir Starmer’s parents were married before he was born, and make some very disparaging remarks about (soon to be former) Lord Mandelson.
Unfortunately, those running the country of my birth appear to have decided George Orwell’s 1984 was an instruction manual. So next time your MP bangs on about online safety, ask them why fraud victims and emergency services aren’t being treated with the same urgency.
